Williams & Dareus Land on PFF's Top 101 List

Ryan Talbot

05/16/2015

Two Buffalo Bills have been listed thus far in Pro Football Focus' Top 101 Players of 2014.

Pro Football Focus is in the midst of unveiling their Top 101 Players of 2014. To date, the site has unveiled players 101-31 and two Buffalo Bills have made the list. In 2014, this duo played a large role in making Buffalo’s defense one of the best in the NFL.

Williams was at it again in 2014 with some big performances that forced him back onto this list. He’s not quite as destructive against the run as he once was and might not play as many snaps as yesteryear. Williams still got that knack for making interior linemen look incredibly bad with his ability to generate pressure. He may be down the list for praise when it comes to the Buffalo line but he just makes plays.

Williams finished the 2014 season as PFF’s 7th best defensive tackle with a +20.2 rating. Among all defensive tackles, Williams finished second in the pass rushing category with a +19.0 rating.

Marcell Dareus was the second Bills player to make PFF’s Top 101 list. The defensive tackle has improved on a yearly basis since being drafted by the Bills in 2011 and found himself at No. 55 on PFF’s list. The analytics site said the following on Dareus:

Don’t be fooled by the sack numbers, Dareus does his best work against the run. And what work he does, proving much more than a lane clogger he can penetrate and shed like few others in the league. It was that element of his game that earned him the fourth overall grade amongst defensive tackles. His pass rushing shouldn’t be ignored with Dareus the kind of interior defender that contributes every down.

Dareus was PFF’s fourth best defensive tackle in 2014 behind Aaron Donald, Gerald McCoy and Ndamukong Suh. No defensive tackle was rated higher than Dareus in the run defense category (+20.7).

Will any other Bills players make PFF’s Top 101 players? Share your thoughts in our forum.